Gary Tyrell​

Kristin Tyrell worked for years in the Iowa Department of Human Services to help other families cope with abuse and alcoholism. The types of problems she spent a career helping to resolve may have been forces that brought her life to a violent end on Sunday, August 6, 1995. Kristin, 41, of Underwood, was shot and killed by her husband, Gary Tyrell, 49, before he turned the gun to his head and took his own life. Gary, apparently upset about their marital breakup, had also wounded a live-in family friend before shooting his wife.

The couple was getting a divorce and Kristin had requested a restraining order against Gary, who was living outside Underwood. Authorities had responded to domestic disputes at the couple’s home in the past, and Gary was recently arrested on drunken driving charges. An open can of beer was found in the front seat of his car after the shooting.